Container support



March 28, 1950 GAYLE 2,501,895

CONTAINER SUPPORT Filed June 16, 1949 INVENTOR.

Mwmw W Patented Mar. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER SUPPORT Aubrey A. Gayle, Chicago, Ill.

Application June 16, 1949, Serial No. 99,548

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a support for containers. It is an object of this invention to provide an improved container support and, more in particular, one which is not readily removed by unauthorized persons.

The invention is particularly applicable to trash baskets which are commonly placed in parks and other public places to receive waste material. Such baskets are frequently chained to trees or fence posts but in many cases are best located in open areas for convenient use. In the latter case, the contents of the baskets are often spilled and the baskets are frequently stolen. In large cities, the cost of replacing trash baskets stolen in one year is very substantial.

According to a preferred embodiment of this invention, a support is provided for such a trash basket or other container. In its simplest form, it consists of a supporting ring or plate to receive the bottom of the container, a second ring adapted to encircle the upper portion of the container, and a series of legs connected to the upper and lower rings and extending downward for insertion into the earth. Anchoring means are pro vided near the lower end of each leg, these anchoring means permitting ready insertion of the ends of the legs into the soil but offering very substantial resistance to their removal therefrom. The trash basket or other container when inserted in such a support is held securely upright and may be locked to the support whereby the theft of the container becomes impossible without unlocking the basket or removing the container support and its anchoring means from the ground.

Accordingly, it is another object of this invention to provide a container support which eliminates or substantially reduces the danger of the spilling of the contents of the container.

It is another object of this invention to provide a container support which greatly reduces the possibility of theft of the container.

It is another object of this invention to provide a container support which holds the container securely in its proper position and which is tightly secured to the ground.

It is another object of this invention to provide a container support, a portion of which may be readily inserted into the ground but offers considerable resistance to its removal therefrom.

It is another object of this invention to provide a container support having container receiving means and means for insertion into the ground, said last-named means including anchoring means permitting ready insertion into the ground but offering substantial resistance to the removal therefrom.

This invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing, in which like parts are indicated by like reference numerals:

Fig. 1 is a lan view of a supporting device illustrating one embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational View of the same con tainer support; and

Fig. 3 is an elev'ational view of the same com tainer support shown in connection with a trash basket supported thereby.

In the embodiment of this invention illustrated in the drawing, the container support in cludes a container receiving platform H in the form of an angle iron. Since the container support, illustrated in the drawing, is adapted to support a trash basket l2 of circular cross section, the platform H is also circular as may be seen in Fig. 1. The platform H is, of course, made to such dimensions that it will properly receive the container which it is intended to support.

A ring I3 is provided to encircle an upper portion of the basket, this ring having a vertical axis coincident with that of the platform l i. A plurality of legs Ill are permanently connects to both the platform H and the ring it and extend a substantial distance downward of the platform. The lower ends of these legs are preferably tapered or pointed to facilitate their insertion into the ground. When the lower ends of these legs are driven into the ground, the container support is firmly held in its upright position for properly receiving the basket l2.

Anchoring means in the form of blades is are secured to each leg it near its lower extremity. The blades l5 extend upward and outward of the legs whereby they lie substantially in the plane of an upward flaring cone. It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the anchoring means formed by the blades It may readily be driven into the ground but will ofier considerable resistance to the removal therefrom because of the angle of the blades.

Any number of blades may be provided on each leg and, if desired, they may be arranged in more than one tier or in vertically staggered relationship. The blades may also be in the form of one or more continuous cones. It is also within the scope of this invention that the blades extend directly outward of the leg I l, in which case holes would necessarily be dug for insertion of the anchoring means into the ground. After insertion of the legs and anchoring means, the holes would, of course, be filled. The blades may also be pivotally mounted on the legs such that they can swing between an upward extending position to an outward extending position, there being a stop to prevent the blades from swinging to a downward extending position. In such case, the blades are easily driven into the ground but tend to spread to their outward extending positions as they are pulled upward, thereby restraining their removal from the ground.

According to the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawing, the blades are arranged in pairs and are connected to diametrically 0pposite sides of each leg. In the completed support, the blades preferably lie along a circle having a vertical axis coincident with that of platform H and ring l3, as may be seen in Fig. 1.

A hole 16 is provided in the platform H in order that the trash basket I2 may be readily secured thereto by a padlock l'l. This arrangement permits the ready removal of the basket from the support by authorized persons but prevents the removal of the basket by unauthorized persons.

It will be apparent that the use of the padlock l1 and the anchoring means It will not prevent the theft of the trash basket I2 in the face of a determined effort to that effect, but it is believed that the restraint offered by the padlock and anchoring means will substantially reduce, if not eliminate, the theft of such trash baskets since such thefts'are usually accomplished by children who are inclined to carry off such containers because of the fact that they stand loose and unguarded.

The invention is applicable to other types of containers, such as supply tanks or drums, incinerators, or any other containers subject either to spilling or to theft.

While particular embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited thereto since many modifications may be made, and it is, therefore, contemplated to cover by the appended claim any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A support for a circular trash basket comprising at least two circular hoops having a common vertical axis, at least three substantially vertically extending leg members, each of said leg members being connected to each of said hoops and having a portion extending downwardly beyond the lowest of said hoops, and anchor means connected to each of said leg members on said downwardly extending portions, said anchor means for each of said leg members comprising a pair of blades extending outwardly and upwardly of said leg members, said pair of blades being arranged in said leg members in diametrically opposed positions, all of said blades lying along a circle having an axis coincident with said common axis of said circular hoops.

AUBREY A. GAYLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,281,062 Norvell Oct. 8, 1918 40 1,591,845 Kurtz July 6, 1926 2,448,456 Niskanen et al Aug. 31, 1948 

